Google is bringing Extremely HDR seize help to extra third-party apps

One of the thrilling latest developments in smartphone images is true HDR help. The digicam HDR processing that you simply’re most likely already aware of principally makes use of computational images and picture stacking to attain an HDR-like impact, however the ensuing picture remains to be SDR. Beginning with Android 14, although, a number of Android telephones at the moment are able to capturing true HDR images utilizing a format referred to as Extremely HDR. Nonetheless, many third-party apps with built-in digicam performance can’t seize images in Extremely HDR, however that’s set to alter quickly.

Extremely HDR, when you aren’t acquainted, is a Google-made picture format that’s primarily based on the favored JPEG format. As a result of it’s primarily based on JPEG, Extremely HDR photographs will be considered on nearly any system, no matter whether or not or not they’ve an HDR show. What makes Extremely HDR photographs particular, although, is that once they’re considered on a tool with an HDR show, the HDR model of the picture is proven, providing extra vibrant and contrasty colours.

That is doable as a result of Extremely HDR photographs are JPEG recordsdata which have an HDR acquire map embedded of their metadata, which apps can apply over the bottom SDR model of the picture that’s additionally contained throughout the file. Since this HDR acquire map needs to be created and saved to the JPEG file’s metadata when the picture is first created, current digicam apps have to be up to date to help this step. Google created an API in Android 14 for digicam apps to do exactly that, however this API is a part of Camera2, not CameraX, limiting its adoption.

Camera2 is the API that’s bundled with the Android OS framework and is meant for use by apps that need to deploy superior digicam performance. Assume full-fledged third-party digicam apps with pro-level controls over a number of lenses. Alternatively, CameraX is an API that’s bundled with the Jetpack help library and is extra geared toward apps that solely want entry to the digicam for adjoining performance. Assume social media apps that allow you to rapidly snap an image to share with your folks. It’s as much as builders to decide on which digicam API they use, however as a result of new digicam options are developed for Camera2 first, builders who depend on CameraX have to attend for Google to deliver that performance over. Some Camera2 options by no means make it over to CameraX because of the simplified scope of the latter, however luckily, Extremely HDR seize help isn’t a type of options.

Google introduced earlier this yr at its I/O 2024 developer convention that they’d replace their CameraX library to help Extremely HDR picture seize. Peeking on the launch notes for the CameraX library, we are able to see that preliminary help for Extremely HDR seize was added to CameraX with model 1.4.0-alpha05 launched in April. Model 1.4.0 of CameraX will introduce new output format APIs to the ImageCapture and ImageCaptureCapabilities courses.

These APIs embody a getSupportedOutputFormats technique in ImageCaptureCapabilities to question whether or not the system is able to capturing Extremely HDR photographs; this ought to be doable on any system working Android 14 or above for the reason that encoder library is bundled with that model of the working system, however I’m not 100% positive. If the output format is about to OUTPUT_FORMAT_JPEG_ULTRA_HDR on a tool that helps Extremely HDR picture seize, then the CameraX library will seize Extremely HDR photographs within the “JPEG/R” picture format. (The “R” in “JPEG/R” stands for “Restoration map,” which refers back to the HDR gainmap that will get embedded within the JPEG file.)

As famous within the API description, these photographs will seamlessly seem as common JPEG recordsdata on older apps or gadgets with SDR shows, whereas they’ll seem as HDR on apps and gadgets which have been absolutely up to date to help the format. Not many apps help Extremely HDR at this second, with at the moment solely Google Chrome absolutely supporting it throughout Android and desktop. Gadgets that may correctly show Extremely HDR photographs of their full glory embody Samsung’s Galaxy S24 collection, Google’s Pixel 7 and Pixel 8 collection, OnePlus’ 12 and Open, and a few others. Some newer Home windows PCs with HDR shows, reminiscent of my Lenovo Yoga Slim 7X, also can show Extremely HDR photographs.

The advantages of Extremely HDR photographs are onerous to elucidate by way of textual content, so in case you have a tool that’s able to viewing them, I like to recommend seeing a couple of for your self. Right here’s a gallery of Extremely HDR images I took of Qualcomm’s San Diego campus utilizing my OnePlus Open. Due to Extremely HDR, these photographs don’t endure from the standard “overprocessed” look that present digicam HDR processing suffers from. The inventory digicam app on my OnePlus Open captured these Extremely HDR photographs, although it solely not too long ago gained this functionality after an OTA replace. Third-party apps that use the Jetpack CameraX library ought to hopefully begin saving photographs within the Extremely HDR format quickly as soon as model 1.4.0 of the library is launched.